Obama Names Pierson as First Woman to Lead Secret Service

U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson started as a special agent in the agency’s Miami field office in 1983 and later joined the presidential protective division. Source: U.S. Secret Service via Bloomberg

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said that
Secret Service official Julia Pierson will become the agency’s
new director, making her the first woman to hold the position.

Pierson, 53, currently is the agency’s chief of staff. She
will replace Mark Sullivan, who retired this year after 30 years
with the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the
president.

“Julia is eminently qualified to lead the agency that not
only safeguards Americans at major events and secures our
financial system, but also protects our leaders and our first
families, including my own,” Obama said today in a statement
released by the White House.

The appointment marks a notable shift for an agency that
has been entangled in controversy after nine of its agents were
dismissed or voluntarily retired after allegations that
employees hired prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia.

Senator Tom Carper, the chairman of the Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee, called the appointment
“welcome news and a proud milestone.”

“Ms. Pierson’s vast experience has prepared her to lead
this agency with its critical protective, investigative and
cybersecurity missions,” Carper, a Delaware Democrat who
oversees the agency in his role as chairman, said in a
statement.

Presidential Experience

Pierson was appointed chief of staff in the director’s
office in 2008. She started as a special agent in the agency’s
Miami field office in 1983 and later joined the presidential
protective division. She has held various management positions
in the Secret Service.

Prior to her time in the Secret Service, Pierson was a
police officer with the Orlando Police Department.

Sullivan had served as Secret Service director since 2006,
making his tenure the third-longest in agency history. His stint
was marred by a scandal last year, when allegations surfaced
about agents paying for prostitutes in Colombia. The agents were
in the country preparing security for Obama’s arrival for a
summit.

The agency questioned more than 200 people in the course of
the investigation of the Colombia scandal. It identified nine
employees who were found to have engaged in “serious
misconduct” for actions that included the alleged involvement
with prostitutes.

‘Incredible Dedication’

Nine U.S. military service members received non-judicial
punishments for their involvement in the April 2012 incident.

Obama expressed confidence in Sullivan throughout the
investigation and said upon his departure that he had led the
agency “with incredible dedication and integrity.”

Sullivan’s role in investigating the prostitution
allegations and openly answering questions from lawmakers drew
praise on Capitol Hill.

“When controversy occurred in his agency, he took swift
action and responded to oversight with direct and forthright
answers,” Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican
and chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee,
said in a statement when Sullivan announced his departure in
February.

The Secret Service, part of the Homeland Security
Department, has a dual role as the chief protective service for
the president and as an authority to police the nation’s
financial infrastructure.

Created in 1865 to combat counterfeiting of U.S. currency,
the agency began providing part-time protection for the
president in 1894. In 1902, the agency assumed full-time
responsibility for protecting the president. The service employs
about 7,000 people and has a $1.6 billion annual budget,
according to its website.